<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Conduction by LBibliophile</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23059792">Conduction</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LBibliophile/pseuds/LBibliophile'>LBibliophile</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bingo Fill, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Star Spangled Bingo, Tony Stark Bingo 2020, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Touch-Starved, Winteriron Month 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:13:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>966</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23059792</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LBibliophile/pseuds/LBibliophile</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Conduction <i>n</i>, the transfer of heat energy via contact.<br/>It is a small thing that makes him notice. A simple clap on the shoulder, emphasis for whatever point he is making. But when he moves to take his hand away, Bucky follows, just for a moment, prolonging the contact.</p><p>For:<br/>Winteriron Month 2020 - SFW day 6: touch starved<br/>Star Spangled Bingo - 4:1 cuddling<br/>Tony Stark Bingo - 3096 - T1: fireplace</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>154</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Star Spangled Bingo 2020, Tony Stark Bingo 2020, WinterIron Month 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Conduction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The original draft for this had Steve instead of Bucky, and I may go back and write that version later. But I feel that adapting it to the Winteriron dynamic worked out well.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It is a small thing that makes him notice. A simple clap on the shoulder, emphasis for whatever point he is making. But when he moves to take his hand away, Bucky follows, just for a moment, prolonging the contact.</p><p>Tony is no stranger to skin hunger. Honestly, it’s half the reason behind cultivating his playboy reputation in his youth; although since Afghanistan he has had to find other outlets. But if it is an annoying tingle for him, he can’t imagine what it must feel like to Bucky. Not after 70 years where bouts of cryo were only interspersed with Hydra’s uncaring hands.</p><p>Even now at the Tower the other Avengers are careful around him. They don’t specifically avoid contact, but there is a constant awareness, a bubble of personal space they won’t enter without purpose. It is a habit left over from Bucky’s early days with the team, when he was still twitchy and uncertain, warily assessing anyone who came too close. The distance was a relief for him at the time, but watching now, Tony wonders if they have ignored his needs changing. Because, now that he knows what he is seeing, he notices signs of Bucky’s touch starvation all over the place.</p><p>It is in the way that he holds hot drinks clasped in both hands, sometimes cradling them against his chest or stomach.</p><p>It is in the way that he leans into the occasional sustained touches, before stiffening and pulling away.</p><p>It is in the way that, on bad days, he will spend training sessions focussing on wrestling-forms with Steve, an excuse to be wrapped in his arms as they vie for advantage.</p><p>It is in the way that Tony can predict those bad days by counting the number of layered sweatshirts and hoodies – it is a familiar contradiction, the way that the longing for touch can cause you to instead shield yourself behind the warm weight of fabric.</p><p>Tony knows the problem and he knows the solution, but Bucky clearly doesn’t. Which means he will have to go carefully. Because Bucky might crave touch, but he has spent so long without that he is having trouble understanding that it is safe to need and safe to ask. If he pushes too hard, he’ll only drive him further away. So he starts simple, finding excuses to cross the margin of empty space the others offer him.</p><p>He allows his gestures to result in contact; a brief hand on his shoulder as on that first morning, a gentle nudge to redirect his attention.</p><p>He uses touch to mark his position; a warning hand on arm or back as he passes behind him in the kitchen, a light push requesting him to move out of the way.</p><p>He stops carefully maintaining that invisible boundary around him; allowing their ankles to rest together as the team crowds around a briefing table, brushing shoulders where they sit side-by-side at movie nights.</p><p>Tony doesn’t want to push too much, Bucky has many reasons to be wary of physical contact, but it seems to be working. Bucky seems more relaxed, and the frequency of his bad days has reduced by a small but statistically significant percentage. He’s not reaching out for the desired contact yet, but he’s also not avoiding the situations Tony has engineered, and sometimes even seems to be encouraging them, consciously placing himself in Tony’s path.</p><p>The night that Tony knows his plan is working, a combination of jetlag and engineering-binge has kept him in the workshop late into the small hours of the morning. So it is a surprise when he passes the common-floor lounge and sees it lit by the flicker of the electric fireplace. Thinking that someone must have forgotten to turn it off, he moves into the room. As his shoe scuffs against the carpet the bundle of fabric on the loveseat closest to the fire twitches.</p><p>A pale face turns to look at him, mess of dark hair escaping the edges of a grey hood, the shadowy mass below resolving into a blanket draped over knees drawn up to a chest. Everything about the posture screams un uncharacteristic vulnerability and need for comfort. Heeding the call, Tony steps closer.</p><p>“Hey, Bucky. Would you like some company?”</p><p>The other man doesn’t reply, turning away, but he shifts his fluffy-socked feet to bare the other half of the loveseat in invitation.</p><p>Normally, Tony offers comfort in the form of distraction, weaving a web of words to ground the listener and hold back their worries. But he looks at Bucky – at the way that he is flushed with warmth, yet trembling slightly and huddled under blanket and hoody – and wonders if it might be the time for a different approach.</p><p>So, instead of settling against the far side of the couch, he claims the middle of the free space, laying his arm along the backrest behind Bucky’s shoulders. For a moment, he regrets his boldness; Bucky goes stiff against the cushions, his breathing frozen. Tony is about to pull back, awkward apology on his lips, when he finishes translating Bucky’s body language. The tension is not fear or discomfort, but… anticipation. Carefully, hoping he is reading things right, Tony curves his hand around to nudge at Bucky’s far shoulder.</p><p>It is only a gentle push, but Bucky moves with it, offering no resistance as he is guided to curl into Tony’s side. Tony settles his arm more securely and Bucky melts, turning to bury his face in the bare skin of his neck.</p><p>Tony sighs softly, settling back into the cushions and closing tired eyes. Come morning, Bucky will probably pull away again, unsettled by showing such vulnerability. But at least for now, they can bask in the contact they both need.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Title of Piece: Conduction<br/>Card Number: 3096<br/>Collaborator(s): lbibliophile-mcu<br/>Square Filled: T1: fireplace<br/>Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark &amp; Bucky Barnes<br/>Rating: Gen<br/>Major Tags/Warnings: Touch-starved, Bucky Barnes needs a hug<br/>Word Count: 970<br/>Summary:<br/>Conduction <i>n</i>, the transfer of heat energy via contact.<br/>It is a small thing that makes him notice. A simple clap on the shoulder, emphasis for whatever point he is making. But when he moves to take his hand away, Bucky follows, just for a moment, prolonging the contact.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>